Frequent Questions

Below are answers to some of the most-frequently-asked questions regarding
SafeHouse.

Is SafeHouse the same as
whole disk encryption?

Not exactly. Although SafeHouse can surely encrypt most of your drive,
true whole disk encryption products work very differently, in that they
encrypt every single sector of your hard drive from the moment your PC
is powered up. These products are more complicated than SafeHouse, and
consequently, more expensive. You also don't get to choose which files
should be protected and which should be left alone. SafeHouse is a much-less
invasive product that allows you to personally pick and choose which files
are to be protected. SafeHouse also shines over and above whole disk encryption
products when it comes to making secure backups or working with removable
media.

Can SafeHouse volumes be
backed up?

Absolutely. SafeHouse volumes are normal files and can be backed up
using either Explorer or any standard backup software. See Backing
Up SafeHouse Volumes.

Can SafeHouse be used to
protect email attachments?

Can SafeHouse Personal Edition read volumes
created with the Professional Edition?

Yes. Although the Personal Edition does not support creating volumes
with the wide variety of encryption schemes included in the Professional
Edition, it can, however, read and write any volume created using either
edition. And the same goes for the Professional Edition.

How do I delete a SafeHouse
volume?

SafeHouse volumes are just normal files -- albeit much bigger than most
other files. You can delete them using Explorer as you would any other
file. Be careful about your Recycle Bin. You'll need to empty your Windows
Recycle Bin to fully reclaim the space used by the volume. Alternatively,
you can tell Explorer to bypass the Recycle Bin by holding down the keyboard
shift key while clicking on the Delete menu item in Explorer (right click
on volume file in Explorer, hold shift key and click Delete).

Can administrators access
local SafeHouse passwords?

SafeHouse Professional includes the ability for system administrators
to reset volume passwords. This procedure allows them to pick a new password,
but it does not allow them to determine what the existing password is.
See the Administrator's
Guide for more information on resetting lost passwords.

What happens if I lose
my SafeHouse password?

SafeHouse passwords can only be reset if the resettable password feature
was specifically enabled by your system administrator in advance. This
feature is included in the Professional Edition only. See the Administrator's
Guide for more information on resetting lost passwords.

What are the limitations
of the trial version?

SafeHouse operates in trial mode whenever it is installed without entering
an activation key. For the first 30 days, SafeHouse is 100% functional
with the minor exception that it does not allow you to choose long passwords
when creating volumes. After 30 days, the software changes to read-only
mode, whereby you can still open volumes and read all files; however,
you will not be able to write back or update them. As such, you will never
be locked out from getting at your own files, even if you choose not to
purchase the software. This also makes it easy to distribute encrypted
data on CD/DVD since recipients can use the trial software to access the
protected files.

Can the trial version be
freely distributed?

Yes. You may freely distribute the SafeHouse trial version, including,
but not limited to distributing it on CD/DVD, hard drives and USB devices.
You do not need any special license to do this nor do you need to contact
us or receive permission in advance. Please obtain the latest version
of the SafeHouse software from SafeHouseSoftware.com.
The download available from the SafeHouse website is a dual-mode installer
which installs in trial mode when you do not enter an activation key.

How can I shrink
a volume?

The SafeHouse Resize Volume wizard is the first place to look for shrinking
a volume; however, it can only shrink within certain limits. It does not
move any files around within the volume, so if you have large gaps between
where files are located (something that can occur naturally in Windows)
it may not be able to offer you the level of shrinkage you desire. Further,
it cannot shrink lower than the original starting size. But there is a
very simple solution for getting smaller. Create a new volume of the size
you want, then open both old and new at the same time and drag the files
over to the new one. When you're satisfied all is good, you can close
the old volume and delete it.

Does SafeHouse have
any Weaknesses?

Different manufacturers take different approaches to encryption and
data privacy. Like any other kind of lock in the world, each approach
has its pros and cons, conveniences and inconveniences. SafeHouse uses
an approach known as virtual disk encryption. This is a very safe technology,
however, there are some things you may want to be aware of just to be
clear on what protection is provided, and what is not.

Things to know:

Windows keeps what is known as a "swap file"
to help move data in and out of memory as it needs to make room for running
multiple programs at the same time. This swap file is typically saved
to drive C:
and is frequently 1 to 2GB in size. SafeHouse does not protect the contents
of this temporary Windows file. It is possible that if you were working
on a sensitive document and Windows wrote some of the memory containing
your confidential text to the swap file, fragments of your document could
be found in the swap file for a very short period of time. Most security
products do not encrypt the swap file since to do so would significantly
slow down Window's performance. It would take a very skilled and determined
intruder to extract any information from this file, and then, only very
small bits here and there might be there.

SafeHouse cannot protect you from keyboard sniffers.

When a volume is open, all access to the volume
is controlled by Windows, not SafeHouse. Therefore, a rogue program or
virus could attempt to inspect or delete files within the SafeHouse drive
letter - just as it might for your primary C:
drive. Closed volumes are immune to such attacks. If you are surfing the
Internet and are worried about some browser vulnerability allowing access
to your disk files, you are advised to close your SafeHouse volumes before
visiting unsafe websites.

It's important to know that the items mentioned above are common to
the technology used by SafeHouse and not specific programming flaws within
the software. SafeHouse is a very safe and secure product which has withstood
the test of time.